Fremantle midfielder Lachie Neale is recovering in hospital from shoulder surgery.

Neale, who underwent surgery on Thursday to repair ligament damage in his right shoulder, is also scheduled to have surgery later this month to repair ligament damage in his right wrist.

Neale in All-Australian squad

General manager of football operations Chris Bond said Neale’s recovery and rehabilitation phase would delay the start of his 2017 pre-season.

“While Lachie will be able to resume running when the pre-season gets underway in November, at this stage our medical advice is that he will not be able to train fully until mid to late December,” Bond said.